Clarksville makes plans for sewer upgrades, streetscape work

Clarksville Town Council took time out at the Aug. 26 monthly meeting to recognize members of the Bluestone High School baseball team for their successful season, with a final won/loss record of 19-3.

A resolution was approved by Council to celebrate the team’s achievements.

In other business, Town Manager Jeff Jones said he received word from Randy Jones, of Dewberry engineering, on preliminary bid specifications for Clarksville’s upcoming sewer improvement project. There are two components to the project, and each will be separately bid.

Contract I will cover repairs, replacements and upgrades to the Clarksville Wastewater Treatment Plant and improvements to the Kinderton Country Club pump station.

Contract II will cover improvements to the sewer system at Bluecreek north and south, Virginia Avenue, Forest Hill Road, Perfect Point, Sunnyside and Buffalo Road. This contract also includes rehabilitation of the Forest Hill Road pump station.

Jones said he is reviewing the specifications with the town’s operations manager, Richard Elliott and requesting needed modifications.

Jones added that he and officials with Dewberry plan to hold a community meeting with residents of Perfect Point to brief them on the options available to them once the town’s sewer line is extended to the area. He said Perfect Point residents will have the option of voluntarily connecting to the new sewer line.

Barry Roberts of the Clarksville Community Players shared the status of ongoing renovations to the Fine Arts Center with members of the Council. He invited them to stop in and see the new lobby, office space and handicapped accessible restroom installed in area of the building that once housed the Clarksville Police Department.

The next major project involves the removal of asbestos from inside the theatre.

Roberts said right now, the existing asbestos is contained and poses no health risk to those who come to the theatre. However, “We are about to begin major construction.” When that happens, it is very possible asbestos particles will become dislodged, he added.

To ensure that no one is put at risk during or after the construction, the Players have agreed to pay to have the asbestos removed.

Roberts was not asking the town for money for this work as the Clarksville Community Players have already raised the funds to pay a professional team to remove and dispose of the material.

The final phase of the downtown streetscape is nearly complete, according to Elliott. His staff will seed the lawn areas along the curb as soon as cooler weather sets in.

Council member Glenn Jurczyk expressed his pleasure with the look of the new downtown streetscape and asked if it would be possible to extend the sidewalks and curbing further, ending at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and Highway 15.

Elliott agreed that extending the streetscape would improve the aesthetics of the entire downtown. He added that he previously discussed the cost to extend the project with the engineers who designed the original streetscape, B&B Consultants.

Officials with the consulting firm estimated the cost of grading the hillside, and installing new curbs and sidewalks to be around $900,000. The town would have to fund at least $200,000 of that project. Elliott said he did not have sufficient funds in his current budget to cover the project. Therefore he recommended against the extension at this time.

Council approved the expenditure of nearly $22,000 to tar and gravel four streets in town, including Pittard Lane, Park Avenue, West Street and Ninth Street. Council also approved the purchase of a new leaf machine for the Maintenance Department. The old machine would be sold on govdeal.com, said Elliott.

Michael Knight, who works at the town’s wastewater treatment plant, recently earned his “Class IV wastewater license” and is about to start on his Class III license. Elliott asked Council to acknowledge Knight, who was at the meeting, and applaud his accomplishment.

Both Elliott and Police Chief Rickey Wilkinson said they received many compliments about the town’s most recent Lakefest. Wilkinson said one issue he would be studying before next year involved parking on Saturday night. Because so many people tried to park close to the lake before the fireworks, Wilkinson said those leaving after the fireworks were stuck in a traffic jam for nearly two hours.

His suggestion was to limit parking in downtown Clarksville near the lake or install additional “no parking” signs along Second Street. These proposals were merely suggestions, Wilkinson told Council.

In other business, Council approved a recommendation from Davenport & Co, financial consultants, to refinance two debts, the 2012 purchase of a fire truck and a 1998 rural development loan. Davenport estimated that the refinancing would save the town nearly $130,000 in interest payments.

Larry Chapman was appointed to the Clarksville Planning Commission to replace Linda Davenport, who resigned because she was moving out of the town limits. Council also reappointed Glenn Burney to the Lake Country Regional Airport Commission.

The public comment segment of the council meeting was moved from the end of the meeting to the beginning, in order to give the public a chance to comment before votes are taken on matters.

Also, Council agreed to dispense with holding workshops, the meetings which normally take place on the first Tuesday of each month. These changes will take effect in September.